Jalen Williams Speaks On Thunder's National Media Negativity

Arguably more than anything else amid the Oklahoma City Thunder's league-leading campaign this season, false narratives are the biggest topic of conversation surrounding it.

Whether it be Marcus Morris Sr. calling out the Thunder for not having any depth on First Take, or the constant criticism of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's free-throw rate, things continuously spread that have no basis. Of course, those are bound to pop up with an NBA Finals favorite, but they at least need to be fair.

All of the social media negativity sparked All-Star forward Jalen Williams to make a comment on a recent episode of The Young Man and The Three podcast.

“I think a lot of it is the national media. They don’t be watching the games either, if I’m being honest," Williams said. "They're what drives it ... whatever they push out are what people are going to respond to."

Williams mostly directed his focus towards the free-throw talk, citing clear reasons as to why it is misleading. For one, Oklahoma City is just the 26th team in free throw attempts per game, holding a less-than-impressive stat of 20.5. Arguably, it should be getting more foul calls than it has during the year.

Gilgeous-Alexander himself doesn't even have as many attempts as Milwuakee Bucks' forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, who holds 10.5. The Thunder star's nine does hold the second-highest spot currently, but considering how much he gets to the basket, it's not that surprising.

MVP candidates typically hold one of the higher free-throw rates, though Gilgeous-Alexander's is lesser than many of the winners over the last several seasons. Just because he gets to the line more than most, doesn't mean he relies on them to achieve his staggering 32.8 points per game.

We haven't seen a single-season offensive performance to this level in a long time, much less a campaign at the top of the Western Conference like Oklahoma City is doing. Just maybe, appreciating the basketball being played would be more beneficial for the NBA as a whole.

In the playoffs, the Thunder will simply have to defy the conversation.